The Figurine
by NewPaladin
Summary: In which Tana winds Cormag around her little finger and there's the prospect of a journey. For theobjection.


My Nagamas present for . I hope it's cute enough :q I wanted to have it pure fluff, but Cormag didn't want to. But it's still mostly happy.

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><p>Cormag sat in the silence of his woodworking shop, slowly whittling a new figurine. It was again one of those slow days with almost no customers. They became more frequent lately. He still got enough commissions for tables, cupboards and such things so he didn't have to starve, but apart from food and materials, he couldn't afford anything else. It was still more than his fellow Gradians had, so he would never complain.<p>

Cormag raised his head and threw a look out of the window. The sky was bright and the trees lush; the neighbours were unusually quiet today, which had also been a rarity until a few months ago. He figured that the changes had finally arrived in the outer districts of the Frelian capital. Grado was finally getting on its feet again – at least what was left of it – and trade had picked up again.

With a deep sigh, Cormag lowered his gaze to the wooden figurine. It was one of his first tries at a human figure. The shelves of his shop were already filled with cattle, horses, pegasi, wyvern and wild animals. They sold well enough, but there had been questions about knights for the horses or farmers for the cattle. Cormag had avoided human figures until now because he was hopelessly bad at making them; he just couldn't get the proportions right. Cormag shot an embarrassed look at the small heap of unfinished (and often bizarrely proportioned) figurines.

At first he had tried his hands at a knight, modelled after his brother Glen, but the armour had caused so many problems that he wanted to practice something easier first. The next model he could think of – a person he saw often and could remember very well – had caused him to blush darkly, but he still did it. He still felt a whiff of embarrassment when he looked at the princess figurine in his hands. She was wearing her pegasus knight uniform even though the real one hadn't worn it for years. But this image of her had burnt itself into Cormag's memory and he was fond of that picture.

Sighing, Cormag shook his head free of these thoughts and concentrated on his work. He was still having problems with the look of her hair (and everything else, but the hair was his smallest problem).

It was probably over an hour later when he was interrupted. The door of his shop was opened and closed. Just as Cormag wanted to stand up, he heard her call: "Cormag? Are you there?" With a small smile, he sat back down again.

"I'm in the back, Princess," he called. A second later, a grinning Tana appeared in the door frame. Her hair was mussed up and her cheeks bright red from the flight. She started to walk towards him, stepping over the loose deal and deftly weaving through finished commissions. It still made Cormag oddly embarrassed that the princess knew the quirks of his shop so well and moved so naturally around in it.

When she finally stood next to him, she bent down to inspect his carvings. "What are you making?" she asked, just taking the figurine out of his hands. He felt a slight blush creep onto his face while she looked at the figure from all sides. "Is that… ?" She threw a curious glance at him.

He shrugged, trying to look nonchalantly, and swiped the wood droppings aside with his foot. "The children asked for riders for their pegasi and horses. And only women may ride a pegasus."

"She's cute," Tana said with a low giggle. She held it out for him. He smiled embarrassedly before accepting it.

"I'm not content with the hair yet."

"Really?" She bent down again, her long hair falling over her shoulder and onto his. Cormag felt like he should back away because she was so close – her cheek was almost touching his – but he felt far too comfortable like this.

"Yes. It looks odd."

"Hmm…" Tana continued staring at the figure for a few seconds. Then she straightened, stepped in front of Cormag and shook her hair. He watched her fascinated. She ran her hands through her ponytail once and threw an expectant look at him over her shoulder.

"Could you… shake your head again?" Cormag felt terribly awkward to watch her so closely, but he told himself that it was just for his art. He tried to concentrate on the movement of her blue hair, how it swished from side to side, but his gaze soon dropped to her beautiful neck and then wandered up to her profile. From the side, her lips looked fuller than they actually were and her nose seemed oddly straight. She looked more grown up like this. And beautiful.

"Anything more?" Her voice startled Cormag out of his staring. He blushed lightly again.

"No, I've got it." Thankfully, the blush was gone when she turned around.

"What else are you making?" she asked while pulling a chair over – a commission for a family of four who would be one more person soon. Cormag quickly calculated if Tana could do anything to damage it, but there was nothing and he relaxed.

"Two or three knights, a few farmers, and maybe children."

"So that they can play 'family'?" Tana asked, a broad smile spreading over her face. "I had a doll family as well. I loved them so much." She chuckled. "When my mother or father were busy, I would play with the dolls until they had time for me. And when they were back, they would sometimes play themselves." She looked over at Cormag, who was watching her very closely. "I think you'll make many children happy with your figures."

Cormag dropped his gaze and turned the figurine over in his hands. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Will the other figures also be modelled after someone you know?" she asked, her grin a bit more devious this time.

Cormag nodded. "Yeah. One wyvern knight will look like my brother." Tana's smile dropped slightly.

"That's a great idea."

"Hm." They sat in silence for a moment. Cormag was staring at the figure in his hands, but his mind was far away, remembering the moment he last saw his brother. How he didn't say properly goodbye – but how was he supposed to know that this would be their last meeting?

Suddenly the door of the shop opened again. "I'll go," Tana immediately said, jumped to her feet and was in the front room before Cormag could gather his thoughts and stop her.

He sighed to himself and dropped his gaze again. He distinctively heard Tana talk to someone, but he concentrated on his memory again. It hadn't been ten years since that day, but it was already hard to remember some details about his brother. How exactly did his eyes look like, how big had his ears been, what was the exact shape of his nose? All those questions Cormag couldn't answer anymore. Cormag knew it was human to forget some things, especially details that normally were completely insignificant, but the knowledge still hurt.

Suddenly there was a loud smashing sound coming from the front room. Startled, Cormag jumped up and stormed into the room. His first instinct was to grab his lance, but it was stored away safely in his room. In the front room, he was greeted by the sight of a startled child and a sheepish Tana, who had obviously tried to grab something from the highest shelf of his figurine cupboard. Several figures lay strewn about on the floor and the highest shelf board was next to them.

Tana giggled nervously. "Sorry."

Cormag shook his head, smiling. "It's alright." He bent down and together they picked the figures up.

"I just wanted to look at the horse," the little boy said quietly after everything but a small foal was in place again.

"It's pretty, isn't it," Tana asked and leaned down to the boy. A happy smile ghosted over his face and he nodded.

"It's a girl foal and it'll grow up into a war horse. The best war horse of all."

"Really? That's an ambitious horse, then." The boy nodded enthusiastically.

"And its rider will be the best knight of them all."

"Well, the best horse deserves the best rider."

"Yes!" the boy exclaimed and raised the foal up high. "Sir David and his faithful horse Rosie will be the most famous team in Frelia."

Tana laughed together with boy. Suddenly, Cormag was assaulted by a feeling of premonition. Somehow, he knew what would be happening next.

"David, how about you keep that horse–"

"What?!" the boy exclaimed and stared at Tana with big, starry eyes.

"And I'll see to it that it's paid, alright?" The boy nodded hastily and threw a questioning glance at Cormag. Cormag was rather blindsided, but when Tana looked at him pleadingly, he just nodded.

"Thank you!" the boy exclaimed and hugged first Tana and then Cormag tightly. "I'll have to tell Mama." And with that, he ran out of the shop.

Chuckling, Tana turned to Cormag. "Thank you for playing along."

Cormag just shook his head, sighing. "I can't just give away my figures. I've got to eat as well."

Tana sauntered over to him, smiling deviously again. "I said I'll pay you and I mean it." She stood close to him, their toes almost touching. Cormag felt heat gathering under his collar and his body tensed in anticipation.

"Oh, that reminds me," Tana suddenly said and stepped back. Involuntarily, Cormag wanted to follow her to keep her close, but he caught himself in the last second. "When are you going to visit Genarog again?"

Cormag swallowed. He hadn't been able to see his friend for quite a while now. Cormag knew that the wyvern had found a mate two years ago and they might have a baby dragon by now. With a shock, he just felt that it had been almost four years since they went to the Wyvern Mountains in Northern Grado to part way. Cormag had decided that he would never pick up a weapon again and spend the rest of his life as a wood worker. Since he couldn't afford to feed Genarog, they had decided together that the wyvern would return to his home. Many old wyvern were released when the riders died or were incapable of fighting anymore – some wanted to stay with their masters until the end, of course, but Genarog was still a relatively young wyvern. He would live for quite a long while and it was better this way for everybody.

"I can't afford it," Cormag answered lowly. He hated it, but since he owned no horse, he needed to rent one and that was expensive. Walking would take far too long; he couldn't leave his shop for so long.

"But I can." Cormag looked over at Tana. She was serious now, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I'll help you."

"No," Cormag started, but she interrupted him by stepping close again – even closer than before.

She smiled up at him. "I'll lend you a horse and some provisions." Cormag tried to interrupt her again, but she put her finger over his lips. Surprised by the feeling of her calloused finger on his lips, he shut up. "But I have one condition. I'll accompany you."

"What?" he asked shocked. Tana pulled her hand back from his mouth and grinned broadly.

"Yes. We'll travel together again. Just like that time I found you in Grado and dragged you back here." She chuckled. "And I want to see Genarog's baby as well. Wyvern babies are surely very cute."

Cormag swallowed; the thought of travelling – probably alone – with Tana caused his heart to beat quickly against his chest. He couldn't deny that the travel to Frelia back then had been fun in a way. He enjoyed her presence very much. And he was truly missing Genarog and wanted to know how he was…

"Alright," he eventually choked out.

"Great!" Tana exclaimed, clapping her hands in glee. "I'll prepare everything." She already turned on her heels to return to the castle, but she stopped half way. "Oh, I completely forgot to pay you." She fished a few gold coins out of her purse and pushed them into his hand. "50 gold for the foal. And…" Suddenly she leaned forward and pressed a short kiss on Cormag's cheek. He startled, heat rushing into his face. Tana grinned at him. "That was for playing along." Her cheeks were also slightly reddened when she finally turned and ran out of the shop.

Grinning, Cormag dropped his gaze again and slowly walked into the back room. A minute later, he heard the flapping of a pegasus' wings and then it was silent again. Cormag sat on his stool, took one deep breath and picked his carving knife up.

Even if he didn't manage to carve the princess' hair perfectly right now, he would soon get the opportunity to study her closely.


End file.
